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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: spell · nail · row · pound · wind · rest · prune · file

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. prune — to trim
  4. spell — magic
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. spell — a short time
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. row — a line
  11. spell — letters
  12. row — to paddle
  13. file — a document
  14. rest — a break
  15. prune — to trim
  16. file — a tool
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rest — what's left
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. file — a line of people
  23. rest — what's left
  24. pound — a weight

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com